THIS ARTICLE says that Americans are likely to support the war more in response to casualties, as long as they think President Bush means to stick it out. That does seem to be what the polls are showing.

“A few years ago, it was conventional wisdom that the American people would tolerate no casualties in war,” said James Burk, a sociologist at Texas A&M University in College Station. “My own research and the research of others has pretty well demonstrated that the American public is tolerant of casualties as long as the casualties are incurred in pursuit of a mission that they think is reasonable. The public will be patient as long as the casualties don’t seem to be the result of carelessness or incompetence.”

The public did not support, for example, President Jimmy Carter’s botched attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran because it was seen as ill-conceived and halfhearted, Burk said.

The Bush administration clearly understands that the American people are more “defeat phobic than casualty phobic,” said Peter D. Feaver, associate professor of political science at Duke University.

The article also includes the obligatory quote from Charles Moskos, who immediately makes clear that he doesn’t know what’s going on:

Charles Moskos, a sociologist at Northwestern University, said support could start to dissipate quickly unless the nation’s elite are also sending their children to war.

If Moskos had read this piece instead of recycling Vietnam-era quote-mongering, he’d know he’s behind the curve:

Here’s a report about the earlier casualties.

The first is the U.S. pilot killed in the mid-air collision of the two helicopters, U.S. Navy Lt. Thomas M. Adams.

“He’s one of these amazingly clean-cut, all-American kids,” said his aunt, Elizabeth Hansen of La Jolla. “He’s the kind of kid that if you had a very special daughter, you would hope that she could snag him. He was just amazingly bright, funny and kind.”

Adams’ lineage can be traced to Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, his aunt said.

* * *

Adams’ late grandfather, Richard Croxton Adams, helped found Grossmont Bank and Heartland Savings and Loan. His grandfather, who moved to San Diego from Cleveland in 1948, helped rebuild the Old Globe Theatre and the Aerospace Museum after they were destroyed by arson.

Of course, you won’t find this on CNN. But isn’t an expert like Moskos supposed to know things that aren’t on CNN?